In the conventional production of yarn for denim fabrics, denim fabrics themselves, and articles of clothing made from denim fabrics, it is desirable to obtain a "washed" look, that is that the fabric, for example, looks like it has already been washed many times even though it is new. Conventional techniques for doing this result in loss of the intensity or brilliance of the color, and also result in a significant waste of chemicals and/or water to achieve the desired look.
According to the present invention, a method and products are provided which allow production of denim yam, fabric, and articles of clothing, that have a desired "washed" look, yet retain color intensity and substantially avoid the waste of chemicals and/or water inherent in conventional processes. Alternatively, the invention can provide an inexpensive heather look (effect) yam, fabric, and/or product.
The invention utilizes the general techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,925 (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein) to provide the desired results achieved.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of making a colored yarn, comprising the steps of substantially sequentially: (a) Producing a first coarse feeder yarn of cotton and/or other natural fiber. (b) Indigo rope or sheet dyeing the first coarse feeder yarn. (c) Drying the dyed first coarse feeder yarn. (d) Cutting the first coarse feeder yarn into lengths of about four inches long or less, and, if necessary, opening the feeder yarn into individual fibers. (e) Blending the individual fibers from step (d) with other fibers to produce a blended composite of fibers. (f) Carding the blended composite of fibers. And, (g) spinning the composite of fibers into a final colored yarn having a heather effect or washed look.
Step (a) may be practiced by spinning a 0.5/1 to 6/1 (e.g. a 1/1 or a 2.5/1) yarn, e.g. by ring, open end, or other method, spinning the yarn to have between about 2-6 turns per inch.
Step (e) is typically also practiced using at least some greige staple fibers. For some products, step (e) is practiced by blending between about 10-90% (preferably about 20-80%) first individual fibers with 10-90% (preferably about 20-80%, and at least 10%) greige staple fibers, or greige staple fibers combined with still other fibers.
The invention may also comprise the further steps of: (a1) producing a second coarse feeder yarn (of any type of fibers, natural or synthetic, e.g. cotton, hemp, rayon, polyester, acrylic, nylon, and/or blends thereof); (b1) dyeing the second coarse feeder yarn a second color; (c1) drying the dyed second coarse feeder yarn; and (d1) cutting the dried second coarse feeder yarn into lengths of about four inches long or less and, if necessary, opening it up into second individual fibers; and step (e) may be practiced by blending the first and second, differently colored, individual fibers together (with or without greige fibers).
The invention may further comprise (h) making the yarn from (g) into denim fabric, and (i) making the denim fabric into an article of clothing (or other utilitarian article), and (a) may be practiced using substantially all cotton fiber having lengths between about 0.5-1.5 inches. Also, (a)-(i) may be practiced to produce a denim article of clothing having a washed look without loss of color or dye stuff, and without chemicals, enzymes, pumice and other stones, or water usage by known methods which use chemicals, "stone washing" or other washing methods to provide a washed look, or (a) through (i) may be practiced to produce a denim article of clothing having a heather effect; or stopping at the fabric making step, washed look or heather effect fabrics may be produced.
The invention also relates to yarns, fabrics, and articles of clothing made according to the methods set forth above.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of making a colored yarn, comprising substantially sequentially: (a) Producing a first coarse feeder yarn of primarily cotton fibers having fiber lengths of between about 0.5-1.5 inches, and about 2-6 turns (e.g. 3-6 turns) per inch. (b) Continuous dyeing the coarse feeder yarn. (c) Drying the dyed yarn. (d) Opening the coarse feeder yarn up into individual fibers. (e) Blending the individual fibers from (d) with other fibers to produce a blended composite. And, (f) spinning the composite into a final colored yarn. The details of the method according to this aspect may be as set forth above, including the further step (g), between steps (e) and (e, of carding the fiber composite. Also, (b) may be practiced on any indigo dye range, or slasher, or sheet dyeing range.
According to still another aspect of the invention, a method of making a denim fabric is provided, comprising the steps of substantially sequentially: (a) producing a 0.5/1 to 6/1 first coarse feeder yarn of cotton and/or other natural fiber; (b) indigo ring dyeing the first coarse feeder yarn; (c) drying the dyed first coarse feeder yarn; (d) cutting up the dried first coarse feeder yarn into lengths of about four inches or less to produce first individual fibers, and, if necessary, opening the feeder yarn into individual fibers and then, if necessary, blending these fibers; (e) carding the (blended, if desired) ring dyed coarse feeder yarn to achieve a desired final color; (f) spinning the carded, and blended if desired, ring dyed yarn into a final colored yarn having a washed look; and (g) making the yarn from (f into denim fabric having a washed look. In the practice of this aspect (e) is preferably practiced by acting only on the ring dyed coarse feeder yarn itself, that is without any blending with other yams. This is possible because in indigo ring dyeing only the circumferential portion of the yarn is dyed--the core remains undyed, and blending if desired, and carding can then result in portions of the core being exposed, resulting in a "washed" look. However before (e) the indigo ring dyed yarn can also be blended with other yarns if desired.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an effective and simple method of making a colored yarn, particularly for denim constructions having a heather effect or washed look. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.